10 TV Shows You Didn’t Know Made It To 100 Episodes

Tonight marks the 100th episode of the ABC sitcom Last Man Standing starring Tim Allen. A few things about that: yes, Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing is still on TV. In its fifth season. FIFTH. And before you start snickering, how many of your favorite TV shows were liked well enough to make it to five seasons and 100 episodes. Not as many as you’d like, I bet!

Last Man Standing premiered in October of 2011 and nestled itself into ABC’s Friday night lineup, where it was allowed to stay and grow and be generally unfazed by the rest of the TV landscape. A quick list of the other ABC shows that premiered that season:

Pan Am: The ’60s throwback lasted 14 episodes before freeing Margot Robbie up to become a movie star.

Missing: The Ashley Judd-starring suspense series didn’t get renewed after ten episodes and became of of those cancelled series that campaigns for the Emmys as a miniseries to save face.

Man Up: Gross man-children are gross. This show was talked about in tandem with Last Man Standing as shows about poor, fragile, encroached-upon masculinity, but only one of those series starred Tim Allen, so Man Up ended after 13 episodes.

GCB: The former “Good Christian Bitches” got its title neutered and then peaced out after ten episodes.

Charlie’s Angels: The Jiggle TV reboot lasted four episodes before it was canned. It later burned off three more and one went unaired.

Even shows that started off as successes (Revenge was the big ABC hit that season) or were hits with critics (Suburgatory; Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23) have all come and gone while Last Man Standing remains.

It’s not the first series to quietly make its way to 100. Shows without as much buzz or acclaim or attention or respect make it to 100 quite often. You just maybe never realized it.

'Webster' (150 episodes)

Everett Collection

Emmanuel Lewis wasn’t just an eyebrow-raising pal of Michael Jackson’s. He was also the star of six seasons’ worth of a sitcom about a married couple adopting an adorable black child. Problematic as all get-out, but also so cute.

'Boy Meets World' (158 episodes)

Boy Meets WorldFacebook Fans/Likes: 1,861,174 So many television shows from the '90s don't hold up in 2017. You know which one does? Full House. LOL. Just kidding. Boy Meets World! With surprisingly nuanced writing and relatable storytelling, Cory, Shawn, and Topanga's journey to the center of adulthood is still an absolute joy to watch. Everett Collection

It’s easier to remember how long this show lasted now that it’s having its Girl Meets World renaissance, but those ABC/Disney hybrid shows would tend to just hang out forever, as their fans aged into and then out of their demographic.

'Wings' (172 episodes)

Photo: Everett Collection

EIGHT SEASONS. Eight seasons spent as a time-slot hit for NBC, propped up at various points by Cheers and Mad About You, the sitcom about the tiny Nantucket airport lasted an improbably long time, was the butt of quite a few jokes, but also launched the careers of Oscar nominee Thomas Haden Church and Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub.

'Charmed' (178 episodes)

Charmed Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60% The cult classic Charmed tells the story of a trio of sister witches who use their powers to fight evil. Starring Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty, and Holly Marie Combs (and later Rose McGowan), the series explores each sister's magic abilities and their combined quest to save the world from evil forces -- but their responsibilities often come at the expense of their personal relationships. In the series, the sisters aren't quite high school-aged, but the soapy drama put teen-centric network The WB on the map and paved the way for other shows in the genre, so it's a necessary addition to the list of Best Teen Dramas on Netflix.
[Stream Charmed on Netflix]

The WB series that refused to die (until Supernatural took that mantle to the CW), Charmed endured one major casting development (out went Shannen Doherty, in came Rose McGowan) and kept right on ticking, telling eight seasons’ worth of stories about San Francisco’s Haliwell sisters/witches.

'One Tree Hill' (187 episodes)

Everett Collection

The adventures of basketball-playing half-brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott went on for nine seasons, with a flash-forward and some really terrible wigs at some point along the way. We can thank it for giving us the gift that is Sophia Bush, even if it would be nice if she were on shows that were worth watching.

'Rules of Engagement' (100 Episodes)

One hundred episodes on the dot! This series from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions starred David Spade, Oliver Hudson, and Patrick Warburton and may be the one show on this list that literally nobody you know has ever watched.

'Ghost Whisperer' (107 episodes)

CBS

Jennifer Love Hewitt saw dead people and tried to solve their problems in this supernatural procedural that was one of those occasional CBS forays into the great beyond. Kind of like a less explicitly religious Touched By an Angel.

'Numb3rs' (118 episodes)

CBS

All the fun of solving crimes/mysteries but with math! Honestly, it’s not a huge surprise that this managed to be a secret hit. People who are good at math love math and also love pointing out when people on TV do math wrong. A winning combination for this series starring Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz.